Swans on Tea

Physics conspiracy: LHC could kill us all
Conspiracy nuts have suggested that it might also inadvertently destroy the Earth (or maybe even the entire Universe)
…
[B]asically the cranks think that the collider will also cook up either an exotic particle or a tiny black hole that will suck up everything around it. It’s pretty much bunk, as [...]

The 6 Cutest Animals That Can Still Destroy You
Pay special heed to #5.

10 effects you should have heard of, over at Backreaction.
Full disclosure: I don’t recall hearing of #10, and I didn’t know #9 by its “formal” name.
snark: But I have heard of the ending-your-sentence-with-a-preposition effect. (it’s a weakly forbidden phenomenon)

A paper Enigma machine. No, it’s not just ROT13.
This machine is compatible with the original 3-rotor German Enigma used during World War II. For simplicity it omits the “ring settings” and plug board, but the primary workings of the machine are captured in this model. Great as an educational tool, or just [...]

I propose we run science porn.
Thus spake a site admin, and so I shall. Of course, because of my particular fetish, there’s no porn like AMO porn:
Lab Porn: Plasma! and Lab Porn: Doomsday!
Shoot, a feller could have a pretty good time in Vegas with all that stuff!

AMO Physics meet chips.
I recently had the pleasure of attending a small workshop on the topic of doing atomic physics on chip-scale apparatus. The presentations and discussions were very interesting, but unfortunately do not lend themselves to a blog report for a couple of reasons. This kind of get-together discusses ongoing projects, some [...]

The Case of the Missing Time
via Confused at a higher level

The Backyard Arthropod Project
“A Field Guide to the North Side of Old Mill Hill, Atlantic Mine, MI”
Bugs, not in close proximity to me, so I don’t mind so much. Apparently many of them are attracted to or otherwise like to hang out on graph paper. I had no idea…

Google Sky
Much like Google Maps in that there are areas that are not mapped in great detail, and others where you can zoom all the way in (it shouldn’t be all that hard to guess that this correlates with interesting features in the night sky). No “street view” feature, yet.
via The Quantum Pontiff

Chad’s been busy blogging about his recent lab visits to NIST and U. Maryland, and the writeups are, as usual, top-notch. Cavity QED (a subfield I find fascinating and something I might have pursued had the right opportunities arisen when I was looking for a postdoc), Cold Plasmas, Biophysics (you might have a “what [...]

For a peek at a few more illusions, of the “interchanging 2-D and 3-D” variety, as well as some history & physics behind it all, head on over to Skulls in the Stars.

Of Two Minds discussing Could Superman’s X-Ray Vision Really Exist?